EA pulls Crysis 2 from Steam, now 'only on Origin' (updated)

Update: EA has announced that it had nothing to do with Steam's removal of Crysis 2. Instead, the mega-publisher said that Steam dropped the game because of conflicting business terms involving Crytek and another online game service. The full statement is below:

"It’s unfortunate that Steam has removed Crysis 2 from their service. This was not an EA decision or the result of any action by EA. Steam has imposed a set of business terms for developers hoping to sell content on that service – many of which are not imposed by other online game services. Unfortunately, Crytek has an agreement with another download service which violates the new rules from Steam and resulted in its expulsion of Crysis 2 from Steam.

Crysis 2 continues to be available on several other download services including GameStop, Amazon, Origin.com and more."

Original: Following the launch of its Origin digital distribution platform earlier this month, EA is making bold moves to draw people into using their service and steal some of the limelight that Steam has been getting for a few years. Namely, the giant publisher has yanked Crysis 2 from Valve's platform to make it available "only on Origin."

While other digital distribution services including Impulse and Direct2Drive still carry the game, we wouldn't be surprised to see that change soon given how aggressively EA is approaching the establishment of their revamped online store.

Another title released this week, Alice: Madness Returns, is also missing from Valve's Steam and marked on EA's website as available "only on Origin" -- though, again, Impulse and Direct2Drive are also selling the game.

The company could follow a similar strategy when its highly anticipated Battlefield 3 title debuts in October. That said, many other EA published games are still available through Steam, including this year's Bulletstorm, Dragon Age II and Shift 2 Unleashed as well as several older titles like Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Mass Effect 2.

Much like Valve's Steam, EA's new Origin service functions as a single store and gaming platform on the PC that lets customers purchase, download and keep track of their games. It includes several social features to interact with friends and is also available on Apple's iOS devices -- no word on when (or if) an Android version will be launched.